Boarding the Void
by Lightwavers
Summary: The Kestrel and her crew take on a lanius cruiser, but it doesn't go well...


"Agent Venture, you are authorised to disable target using all ion weaponry. Fire at will." a voice said through the low-tech comm systems embedded throughout the ship, too primitive to be disabled by a stray ion blast.

"Yeah, yeah..." Venture said. The Federation was very no-nonsense, not standing on rank or formality. Mostly because the commander was the ship.

"Who are they, and what'd they do?" Venture said, having fired up the appropriate weapons, and a few more besides. Never hurts to be prepared for the worst.

"Rogue lanius cruiser. It has been disabling civilian ships for consumption for several sols, regardless of anyone inside," the ship said.

"Oh..." Venture said. No one ever told him anything except at the very last minute, and even then only the bare necessities. He didn't even know the first names of the rest of the crew. All he did know he remembered or found out himself. He'd been conscripted on one of the few wealthy core worlds still affiliated with the Federation, as opposed to the Rebels. He'd heard the rest of the crew speak in hushed voices of 'the mission' before they'd noticed him and clammed up. And the mission, so far, seemed to be to find every hostile ship in existence and destroy it.

It came into range, all metallic spikes and sharp angles, the signature style of lanius ships that no other races could replicate.

"Agent Venture, set the weapons to automatic and make your way to the teleportation room." Venture did so with a few quick gestures and left the weapons room, synthetic leather boots he still hadn't gotten used to squeaking slightly against the spotless, featureless corridors.

"Agent Venture," Maxwell said with a nod. Venture gave him a nod in return, wondering again why everyone called each other agents.

"Step onto the teleporter pads," the ship said, simultaneously calculating the millions of things required for the engagement ahead; angle and momentum of the ship, weapon charge and aim... the chances of success... and of failure.

They stepped into the two circles outlined in green and slipped their respirators over their mouths. Lanius were anaerobic beings; to board without a source of oxygen was suicide. Then they waited.

Maxwell kept his gaze studiously fixed on a blank, flawless wall, while Venture spent the time examining the fixture in the middle of the room. It was a large bundle of cables, wires, and blinking lights, and slowly pulsed as if it had a heartbeat. The teleporter also gave off a faint greenish glow pulsing in sync with its 'heartbeat'. Arrayed around the contraption lay a larger tangle of tubes in clusters so big that even the hyper-efficient ship A.I. could not keep them all hidden. Some were for extra power in amounts too large to transmit wirelessly, but most were there for the complicated task of rebuilding the teleportation module from scratch if it were destroyed.

Suddenly, the soft green light from the contraption spread out across the room, and the circles glowed with the intensity of a thousand suns. Venture shielded his eyes. When he opened them, he was in an empty stretch of corridor, if it could be called that. The entire room was aglow with the after effects of the teleportation, which also made the humans feel uncomfortably warm. A strange cross between crystal and metal made up the room, with cold blue sparks suddenly appearing and disappearing in random flickers in the air. Jagged spikes rose up from every surface like grass, and it was only through the innumerable safety measures of the teleporter that they had materialised in a position in which their weight was perfectly distributed amongst the throngs of spikes.

The green light began to dim, and Venture became very aware that the lanius were made of metal, and therefore did not feel cold. Before long the warm glow faded completely, leaving only the native cold light of the lanius ship. Venture couldn't keep from shivering; the temperature was well below freezing.

"Come on. Weapons systems are up ahead," Maxwell said. He lifted a foot up and kicked the smooth edge of a spike, sending the whole thing clattering across the room and leaving a smooth stump on the floor. Venture followed his lead, and soon enough the two were clearing a wide path through the corridor. As they progressed, the flickering motes of light appeared less frequently, and were significantly dimmer.

They soon reached the end of the corridor. Maxwell brought his pulse rifle up, and motioned for Venture to stay behind him. Venture unholstered his smaller handheld gun, the last weapon left in the locker.

Maxwell aimed down the barrel of his rifle, a mostly useless gesture as they had auto-aiming mechanisms, and pulled the trigger.

The blinding bolt of energy flew down the corridor, towards the metallic crystalline barrier...

And then it was gone, absorbed into the barrier with absolutely no visible effect.

Venture looked uncertainly at Maxwell, away from the barrier... which decided to open, revealing two metallic beings who calmly strode towards the intruders.

Venture sucked in his breath. This was the first time he'd seen a lanius. Apparently there was something about them which resisted detection by modern recording methods, leaving only paintings or drawings, skills which almost no one still possessed in this day and age. The lanius were of a uniform shiny grey metal colour throughout, with pointed arms and legs that dwindled into invisibility at the end. Serrated spikes protruded from all over their bodies, looking more crystalline that metallic.

The lanius held standard-issue pulse rifles. Venture felt an absurd urge to laugh at this; they seemed like they'd sprung from myth and nightmares, creatures that would maul, then bring their victims to a fate worse than death. The incongruity of those horrors handling pulse rifles had Venture momentarily stunned.

Then Maxwell shot one, and it absorbed the blow with no apparent harm dealt to it. Then he ran. "Take cover!" Maxwell shouted, and lobbed something at a wall. It burst, revealing the endless void of space, and another room next to it. "Get in," he said, and sprinted towards the newly revealed room.

Venture followed closely behind, eyeing the yawning void he was nearing at top speed. The lanius must have some way of keeping the air from rushing out, but it was becoming colder every second. Venture fleetingly wished they'd brought adaptive gel suits, then had no time for wishes. The gap was right beside him, a swirling emptiness waiting to suck him into its depths. With only a flicker of apprehension, he stepped right up beside the void, then was past.

Maxwell was already in the room, which looked to be the ship's reactor, though of a unique style. The generator was not shielded in layers of elements more stable and heavy than lead in a featureless room, as per Federation regulation. No, instead a large chunk of blue-grey crystal seemed to have erupted from the floor of the ship like a larger version of the spikes that coated everything. The blue motes appeared thickly around it, shining a cold light on anything around, and nearly obscuring the crystal itself. Linked to the crystal was a web of such thin metal it looked as if breathing wrong would bring it down. Maxwell aimed at the crystal with his rifle, a clear warning to the quickly advancing lanius.

They finally stopped at the seam between the rooms, silently judging. One raised an arm, if it could be called that, and then pointed it towards Maxwell, who, thinking it an attack, fired on the crystal. His shot was blocked and absorbed by a thin connecting strand, which glowed brightly for a moment, then burst. Immediately, the entire room was flooded with a cold so complete it couldn't be comprehended. Maxwell keeled over in shock, and the lanius grabbed him and started slicing.

Venture knew what his fate would be; death, and nothing could change that. The teleporter would take too long, and even if he could avoid the lanius, cold would take him before the teleporter could.

With a smile on lips he could not feel, Venture fired at the crystal. Venture fell to the floor, too numb to feel his legs being shredded by lanius blades, and watched as his shot, smaller than Maxwell's, slipped through the delicate-looking metal tracery surrounding the reactor, and hit the core.

Then he knew nothing.

Kestrel deemed the outcome acceptable, and informed the crew of the losses. Agent Venture had been new, and while his loss was regretted, Maxwell was truly grieved for.

But the mission continues above all else, and the remaining crew reluctantly put the matter out of their minds, concentrating only on the eventual goal. After all, wasn't it worth it to spend a few lives for a chance at the saving of quadrillions?

* * *

 **Thanks to ChocolateTeapot for their thoughtful review, I can't believe I misspelled Federation!**


End file.
